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Act Now to Protect 58.5 million acres of Precious Public Lands!
The Roadless Area Conservation Rule is one of the most important conservation initiatives ever undertaken. Finalized by the Forest Service in January 2001, it calls for protecting 58.5 million acres of the wildest remaining national forest lands. Now, working with industry friends, the Bush administration is actively moving to eliminate the rule and its protections.
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Subject: Public Comment on Roadless Area Conservation Policy
Dear [ Decision Maker ] ,
Dear U.S. Forest Service:
I am writing in response to the questions you posed regarding the intention of the Bush administration to modify the Roadless Area Conservation Rule your agency finalized in January 2001.
Like 95% of the Americans who made up the 1.6 million comments and attended the 600 public hearings on the Roadless Area Conservation Policy, I strongly support the policy as published in the Federal Register on January 12, 2001 with no modification, exemptions or deletions.
I urge you to abandon your efforts to weaken this landmark conservation achievement and immediately implement the original policy on all national forests, including Alaska's Tongass Rainforest. Roadless areas are too important as vital sources for clean water, quality recreation and premier fish and wildlife habitat to allow this rule to be changed.
I oppose your proposal to allow this conservation legacy to be modified on a forest-by-forest basis. Vast tracts of logged and roaded landscapes underscore the failure of the current forest planning process to protect these pristine areas.
The January 12 rule already contains all of the exemptions necessary to protect forest health, communities, homes and property. Furthermore, the existing rule adequately assures that the valid existing rights of individual landowners, states or tribes have to access their lands will be honored.
The timber industry and other interests want you to ignore the fact that 95 percent of the 1.6 million Americans who commented on the January rule supported this forest conservation policy.
As a citizen of this country, I have as much right to our national forest lands as they do. They are already nine times more miles of roads in our national forests than in the interstate highway system. I am asking you to protect the last 30 percent of our unspoiled wild forests for our children and for future generations.
Sincerely,
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Campaign Launched:
July 24, 2001
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The Bush Administration is attempting to undermine an historic conservation measure designed to keep road-building, logging, and oil and gas drilling out of some of the wildest and most beautiful areas of America's National Forests.
The Roadless Area Conservation Rule is one of the most important conservation initiatives ever undertaken. Finalized by the Forest Service in January 2001, it calls for protecting
58.5 million acres of the wildest remaining national forest lands.
Ever since policy changes protecting roadless areas were first contemplated, the timber industry and its political allies have staged a relentless legal and political effort to block any and all progress. They've filed suits in courts all across the country--and Earthjustice has matched them step for step.
Despite the Bush Administration's public statement that the roadless rule would not be overturned, government attorneys have not defended the policy in the courts, leaving it to Earthjustice's public-interest attorneys to do the job.
The Roadless Conservation Rule was the direct result of a tremendous outpouring of public support: more than 1.6 million comments were sent in, more than for any other federal rule in the nation's history.
Now, working with industry friends, the Bush administration is actively moving to eliminate the rule and its protections. They have asked for public comments regarding a forest-by-forest weakening of roadless protections. This would allow harmful activities, such as logging, mining, oil and gas development to proceed in areas protected by the January rule.
Act now to protect 58.5 million acres of precious public lands! Please sign and send in the letter listed below before September 10th. Feel free to add a few sentences of your own to the end of the message. The Forest Service will count personalized comments as a higher quality comment.
The roadless policy affects less than a third of national forest lands, and has no effect on existing oil and gas leasing in national forests. But even though industry already has access to so many of our national forests lands, they continue to demand more logging, more mining, more oil and gas development, and more roadbuilding. Make your voice heard!
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